GT&T announces massive expansion drive for 2011 – rolls out e-magine service to EBD

The wait is over for residents of Eccles, Nandy Park, Diamond and Grove, who have been anticipating the arrival of GT&T’s e-magine broadband service in their areas since its launch earlier in the year.

The Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company Limited announced on Tuesday at a media brunch that it would, today, launch the e-magine service on the lower East Bank of Demerara, as the company expands its coverage to ensure that all Guyanese experience superior and reliable Internet access. 

GT&T’s Chief Executive Officer Yog Mahadeo said that the company’s board only recently approved an investment of US$18 million to expand GT&T services, including e-magine broadband, next year. 

Mahadeo outlined that, since 2006, GT&T has invested US$15 – US$20 million annually, and 2011 will be no different. Among the expansion works are plans for improved 092 services with new systems, according to the CEO.   

The company also plans next month to review the pricing of the DSL service to customers who are not enjoying the e-magine service.  The CEO explained that, while GT&T has been able to reduce the price per kilobyte for the broadband service, resulting in more speed for the same money, it has been unable to roll out e-magine in other parts of the country. Hence, next month, the company would look to offer discounts on packages to residents in those areas without e-magine. 

E-magine is GT&T’s broadband service, which brings high-speed and high-bandwidth to homes and businesses over already installed copper telephone lines. With e-magine Broadband, consumers and businesses can take advantage of having a fixed, always-on connection to the Internet.

The e-magine service allows consumers to access popular social websites; and participate in online gaming, educational activities, banking and other internet-based applications, while the business community can take advantage of the lightning speeds to engage the world of commerce through the Internet.  

According to GT&T, there have been reports that the business community in Georgetown has been able to take full advantage of the e-magine service to enable online ordering of goods and services, as well as to conduct financial transactions through online banking. 

At the launch of e-magine in July this year, Mahadeo assured that the service, which serves customers in Georgetown and along the East Coast of Demerara up to the village of Beterverwagting, will be rolled out in phases.

The e-magine broadband service has resulted in residents in Georgetown and its environs having access to four times more bandwidth at cheaper prices.  In January, GT&T commissioned the shore-end landing of the Suriname/Guyana SG–SGS submarine cable at the Kingston seawall. The project links the two countries through a state-of-the-art, 1,200-kilometre (700mile) submarine fibre optic cable, which is connected to a worldwide network of similar cables through a landing station in Trinidad.

The new cable offers 3,000 to 4,000 times more bandwidth than what is available through the Americas 11 cable and satellite link.